Assignment Guide - English 11 - Literary Research and The Scarlet Letter
Finding sources for a literary analysis paper can be difficult. The best sources are found in academic databases, which provide articles written by scholars, professors, or other experts.
The trick to finding the right articles in databases is to look at the abstracts. These are summaries of the article. Before you read the whole article, look at the abstract and then skim the article to see if it's something with potential. YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ EVERY ARTICLE! Just read the ones you think might work.
The resources below will help you as you research for any literary analysis paper. There are also resources specific to The Scarlet Letter.
Don't forget to use our Library Catalog to find print sources!
The trick to finding the right articles in databases is to look at the abstracts. These are summaries of the article. Before you read the whole article, look at the abstract and then skim the article to see if it's something with potential. YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ EVERY ARTICLE! Just read the ones you think might work.
The resources below will help you as you research for any literary analysis paper. There are also resources specific to The Scarlet Letter.
Don't forget to use our Library Catalog to find print sources!
Gale Reference Collection
- Go to pioneer.uen.org (Ask a librarian for the at-home login).
- Click on Gale Reference Collection - Grades 9-12.
- Click on Student Resources in Context
- Search "Scarlet Letter" or any other keyword.
- This page provides sources about the book The Scarlet Letter. However, try to focus on the sources under "Academic Journals," "Critical Essays," and "Websites."
Tips:
- Each article includes a citation at the bottom of the page. It's already in MLA format, so you just need to copy and paste!
EBSCO
- Go to pioneer.uen.org (Ask a librarian for the at-home login).
- Click on EBSCO.
- Scroll down to find Literary Reference Center.
- Search "Scarlet Letter" or any other keyword.
- Click on an article to find the Abstract and read what the article is about.
- On the left-hand side, click on PDF Full Text to read the article.
Tips:
- On the right-hand side, click on Cite to find the MLA citation. Just copy and paste it to your paper!
- EBSCO has many different databases. Instead of clicking on Literary Reference Center, you can click on "All Databases" to search through all of them.
Searching In Google
When searching on the internet, remember that the first few results may not be the right sources for you. To find authoritative sources, look for ones that end in .edu and .org. But even these may not be right, so use your brain!
- Search "Scarlet Letter" or other keyword.
- Click on the button at the top-right that looks like a wheel (like the image on your right)
- Click on Advanced Search
- In "Site or Domain," type in .edu or .org. This will pull results from only .edu or .org sites.
